I have a small excersise room in my basement that already has an elliptical. I also need something for weight training, preferably a home gym. All the ones I’ve looked at won’t fit comfortably into this space. I may just have to do sit-ups, push-ups, and use some free weights with a small bench. Wondering what others do?

My living room has a weight bench with free weights, but it is rarely used despite a BS in Kinesiology in the household. I use body weight exercises and some dumbbells. I have a pull-up bar placed in my bathroom walk-in closet where I can pop-off a few whenever I walk under it which is a few times a day.

Since you mentioned a basement, just carry a pair of 10, 20, 30, 40 lb dumbbells up and down the stairs for a few sets as your legs get stronger. Leave the dumbbells next to the stairs, so that you use them all the time such as when microwaving your oatmeal in the morning.

The main thing I would advocate is to create a routine that costs you nothing extra in time nor effort to do your weight exercises. It is just a part of life just like sleeping, eating, showering, and using the toilet.

I trained hardcore for over 25 years and competed in powerlifting events. I trained at home and used a Lee Haney Total Gym - Gold Series (still in the basement). Lee Haney's systems were really the first on the market that included the power rack with bench inside, chin-up bar, lat pulldown and weight stack, with safety rails. Many gyms now make these types of systems. Did not take a lot of room. But then again at one point I also had a huge hip/leg sled in the basement!

John C. Bogle: Two Fund Portfolio - Total Stock & Total Bond - “Simplicity is the master key to financial success."

The main thing I would advocate is to create a routine that costs you nothing extra in time nor effort to do your weight exercises. It is just a part of life just like sleeping, eating, showering, and using the toilet.

This is key! And one that you appreciate the older you get. More so than a huge bench press of the size of your arms of neck. It is important to make the time and train the heart.

John C. Bogle: Two Fund Portfolio - Total Stock & Total Bond - “Simplicity is the master key to financial success."

I believe home gyms are a grand idea, but that in reality they are rarely used as much as one would workout going to a gym. There are too many distractions,,there are to many excuses. One being that you can work out any time. When you can do a thing at any time, that time becomes no time.
When people tell me they have a home gym and exercise, I don't believe them.
Then again there are many people who go to a gym and their exercise is self delusional.
Me, I like a gym. You to go there. That alone is part of the commitment. Once there, you can have all the weights you want. Not just the couple matched Dumbbells you bought. Essentially then you are maxed out on the largest. To get better you have to buy more.
A home gym is often like those lonely cold hotel gyms with limited equipment and no atmosphere.

I believe home gyms are a grand idea, but that in reality they are rarely used as much as one would workout going to a gym. There are too many distractions,,there are to many excuses. One being that you can work out any time. When you can do a thing at any time, that time becomes no time.
When people tell me they have a home gym and exercise, I don't believe them.
Then again there are many people who go to a gym and their exercise is self delusional.
Me, I like a gym. You to go there. That alone is part of the commitment. Once there, you can have all the weights you want. Not just the couple matched Dumbbells you bought. Essentially then you are maxed out on the largest. To get better you have to buy more.
A home gym is often like those lonely cold hotel gyms with limited equipment and no atmosphere.

For the most part I would agree. I was told by my high school weight coach I would never go anywhere or accomplish my goals. I did. However I would be the first to say it takes a special type of determination and drive and in the sport of powerlifting, bodybuilding, and so forth, most people need the atmosphere of a gym for a variety of reasons.

John C. Bogle: Two Fund Portfolio - Total Stock & Total Bond - “Simplicity is the master key to financial success."

I believe home gyms are a grand idea, but that in reality they are rarely used as much as one would workout going to a gym. There are too many distractions,,there are to many excuses. One being that you can work out any time. When you can do a thing at any time, that time becomes no time.
When people tell me they have a home gym and exercise, I don't believe them.
Then again there are many people who go to a gym and their exercise is self delusional.
Me, I like a gym. You to go there. That alone is part of the commitment. Once there, you can have all the weights you want. Not just the couple matched Dumbbells you bought. Essentially then you are maxed out on the largest. To get better you have to buy more.
A home gym is often like those lonely cold hotel gyms with limited equipment and no atmosphere.

For the most part I would agree. I was told by my high school weight coach I would never go anywhere or accomplish my goals. I did. However I would be the first to say it takes a special type of determination and drive and in the sport of powerlifting, bodybuilding, and so forth, most people need the atmosphere of a gym for a variety of reasons.

I have limited time after a long work day. I jump on elliptical for 40 min and hope to do weights for 10-20 min. With health club, would add another 30-45 min to my routine, plus having to drive there during bad weather here in Midwest and dealing with germy machines

I have a Vectra 4-C home gym in my basement. It has a 4X6 footprint and performs 31 exercises. I do about half of those every other day. It's built like a tank. I bought it on CL for $400 it was like new. It was around $2000 new.

I work out 3 days a week in my basement. I do the NordicTrack for cardiovascular and I do free weights for strength. I used to have a weight bench, but I sold it and now just do the free weights. That seems to work very well for me.

Body weight exercises plus some 20 lb dumbbells will equip you with the fitness you need for every day life. Use some of the free YouTube fitness videos to focus your efforts. I like 8 minute abs and 8 minute arms videos as condensed, focused exercises to combine with the Elliptical machine. I also walk up and down stairs carrying two of the 20 lb dumbbells until my legs are weary.

Dumbbells (preferably the adjustable kind to save space such as ironmaster quicklock, powerblocks, or any of the others)
Adjustable bench (flat to incline)
Gym flooring (like horse stall mats or other thick rubber in case you drop a dumbbell)
Any type of pullup rig (maybe with a dip station)
Perhaps some bands/tubing

You can absolutely do body weight only and add in plyometrics and isometrics to make bodyweight quite challenging and provide metabolic and progressive overload for body composition and/or strength gain goals.

I set aside a 12' x 9' space in our living room for a power rack, powerblock dumbbells, bench, low pulley / high pulley system, barbell and bumper plates. Since it is the living room I don't do olympic lifts and have dampening pads to absorb sound and vibration for when I'm doing heavy deadlifts or pendlay rows.

I believe home gyms are a grand idea, but that in reality they are rarely used as much as one would workout going to a gym.

Sorry, I disagree with above. I have limited time to exercise and it makes it super convenient to have a gym at my house. I have a treadmill with a mounted TV in an extra bedroom. No waiting for equipment or driving to and from. Having a TV, makes the time pass quicker. I run about 3 miles 5 times a week.

I lift weights 3 days a week. I have a dumbbell set and rack 10-70s (dont really use above 50s any more), a flat universal bench and an justifiable bench that fits under a cage. This last piece is what i recommend as you can do lat pulls, bench and incline presses, rows, tricep push downs, squats, etc. Many many exercises that you can do in a gym. I bought a quality adjustable bench with wheels. Easy to move from bench are to maybe next to it so you can do other exercises and support your back for presses. Can find one for $100 or even less on Craigslist. I am 52, and my weight routing is about 45 minutes and lighter and less intense what it used to be when I was younger.

A home gym is a nice option for some and you can use a bench and cage with a pretty small footprint. Plus, it saves a lot of money in the long run.

I started actually lifting free weights for the first time in my life about 2 years ago. I've been off and on the wagon a bit, but I followed the strong lifts 5*5 program in the beginning starting with just the bar at a gym.

Time and life have gotten increasingly busy, so I built my own squat rack out of some doubled up 2*4's and 3/4" black iron pipe for safeties in my basement for about $50. I found a cheap bench/Olympic bar/300lbs of weight on Craigslist for under $200 combined. Bought a set of bands on Amazon for another $20 and that has provided me basically anything I could want to do for strength training.

I'm now using the "gzclp" lift program (from a Reddit user) and have been loving it. Linear progression on the main compound lifts and add in accessory stuff as you want/need.

Don't underestimate how brutal a simple set of bands can be. If you can put a few strong eye bolts with carabiners in the walls (or on a squat rack) both high and low and one on the ceiling, you can quickly replicate a lot of machine movements. Plus they take up virtually no space.

A little creativity and some time spent searching Google images can give you some great ideas.

I believe home gyms are a grand idea, but that in reality they are rarely used as much as one would workout going to a gym. There are too many distractions,,there are to many excuses. One being that you can work out any time. When you can do a thing at any time, that time becomes no time.
When people tell me they have a home gym and exercise, I don't believe them.
Then again there are many people who go to a gym and their exercise is self delusional.
Me, I like a gym. You to go there. That alone is part of the commitment. Once there, you can have all the weights you want. Not just the couple matched Dumbbells you bought. Essentially then you are maxed out on the largest. To get better you have to buy more.
A home gym is often like those lonely cold hotel gyms with limited equipment and no atmosphere.

For the most part I would agree. I was told by my high school weight coach I would never go anywhere or accomplish my goals. I did. However I would be the first to say it takes a special type of determination and drive and in the sport of powerlifting, bodybuilding, and so forth, most people need the atmosphere of a gym for a variety of reasons.

Quite impressive you engaged in hard core competition for 25 years. It does take a special form of determination and drive in that sport or any other. One of the best side effects is the type of person it turns you in to. It's no wonder you accomplished your goals.

First off decide if the people joking about using it as a clothes hanger are talking about A lot of people buy exercise equipment and never use it. Others buy exercise equpiment and do use. The fact that the first group exists doesn't mean if your a member of the second group that you shouldn't buy it. What is amazing is that people in the first group keep buying the stuff. You would think after 1 time they would learn.

As far as what to buy there is a huge range depending on what your trying to do. Body weight goes a long way. Something like TRX would be a step up. Dumbells and couple kettle bells would be another way. Some small machine with 20 exercises is another. Or bench and squat stands (wouldn't do back squats personally but front ones should be fine) would be another. Or the small cage. All depends on how hard core you want to be and what your goals are.

Knowing nothing specific, I would get a bench, some adjustable dumbbells that go up to about 80-100 lbs (depends a lot on who you are.), and a pull up bar. It is small space requirement and by using high reps (might not be optimal but you can still get the work in) and things like single legs you can load your body up quite a ways. I am not suggesting it is remotely optimal but it is the good enough land of general strength training.

I have a small excersise room in my basement that already has an elliptical. I also need something for weight training, preferably a home gym. All the ones I’ve looked at won’t fit comfortably into this space. I may just have to do sit-ups, push-ups, and use some free weights with a small bench. Wondering what others do?

Check out Rogue's foldable power racks. Purchased one for my garage gym and it has been amazing. I did quite a bit of research on this setup before I purchased, so reach out if you're interested.

When people tell me they have a home gym and exercise, I don't believe them.

What a way to go through life.

For 20 years I’ve had a full squat rack and weight bench, Olympic bar and plates, 20-70 pound dumbbells and a treadmill in the basement and used it all. Now my kids use the same equipment because they’ve seen me using it. Would much rather work out at home than a gym.

To OP I found a great website on this forum last year and use it often. Darebee.com has fantastic workouts.

PowerBlocks are great dumbbells. I've had my set, (adjustable from 5 lbs to 125 lbs each in literally a second or two via a steel pin), since the 90's with no issues to report. Add a bench and you can do full body workouts.

My home gym currently includes olympic bars and a Concept2 rower, but if you have limited space the PowerBlocks alone will take care of everything. It's what I used when I lived in a small beachfront apartment in South FL years ago, along with a chinning bar.

Highest recommendation.

“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” - Sun Tzu |
"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." - Mike Tyson

It feels a little less intense than the strong lifts 5*5 as you only have one heavy day a week for each main compound lift. I've liked it better because I feel like I get better recovery doing an upper/lower split method. I am definitely still in the novice category as my 1rm lifts are pretty much right around the novice to intermediate values for my bodyweight found on https://exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/ ... hStandards which is known to be on the low side.

I really like that the gzclp program mixes the weight and rep schemes. Yes I have noticed a change in body composition for sure. I am on the skinny end of the spectrum so I've been adding a lot of calories in the mix too. Been running it for about 3-4 months now and going to deload and take a second run at it. All four of my lifts have gone up respectably and I know I can get even more out of it. Part of this is beginner gains though. Give it a whirl for a few months and see what you think!

I only scrolled through the responses, so my apologies if this was already suggested. But TRX will give you an amazing workout if you just take a little time to learn how to use it. And it is very inexpensive compared to other equipment. Easy to modify to make it harder as you become stronger or easier as you age. Easy to work out multiple muscle groups at the same time while incorporating core stability muscles. Can be packed up and taken when you travel.

It was developed by Navy seals and I personally know several hockey and baseball coaches and refs for professional leagues that use it religiously since they travel so much and have to stay very fit while fitting in their workouts around their job responsibilities.

I have a small excersise room in my basement that already has an elliptical. I also need something for weight training, preferably a home gym. All the ones I’ve looked at won’t fit comfortably into this space. I may just have to do sit-ups, push-ups, and use some free weights with a small bench. Wondering what others do?

1. Yes. And add resistance bands. Also can use a hook in the ceiling and/or wall for them.
2. "Total Gym"?
3. Also a padded floor mat.

Humorously, the most difficult "equipment" for myself has been finding "an 8 ounce bag of motivation" to walk into my basement home gym room and . . . "do something".

Last edited by Sandtrap on Sun Feb 10, 2019 11:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

I have a small excersise room in my basement that already has an elliptical. I also need something for weight training, preferably a home gym. All the ones I’ve looked at won’t fit comfortably into this space. I may just have to do sit-ups, push-ups, and use some free weights with a small bench. Wondering what others do?

1. Yes. And add resistance bands. Also can use a hook in the ceiling and/or wall for them.
2. "Total Gym"?
3. Also a padded floor mat.

The most difficult "equipment" for me has been finding "an 8 ounce bag of motivation" to walk into my basement home gym room and . . . "do something".

Motivation is not an issue for me. I see what happens at my job (MD) to people who let themselves go. Want to do everything I can. My problems is space I have an elliptical in a small excersise room and there is little room left. I’m thinking a bench or mat, with some free weights and a bar might do?

I have a small excersise room in my basement that already has an elliptical. I also need something for weight training, preferably a home gym. All the ones I’ve looked at won’t fit comfortably into this space. I may just have to do sit-ups, push-ups, and use some free weights with a small bench. Wondering what others do?

1. Yes. And add resistance bands. Also can use a hook in the ceiling and/or wall for them.
2. "Total Gym"?
3. Also a padded floor mat.

Humorously, the most difficult "equipment" for me has been finding "an 8 ounce bag of motivation" to walk into my basement home gym room and . . . "do something".

Motivation is not an issue for me. I see what happens at my job (MD) to people who let themselves go. Want to do everything I can. My problems is space I have an elliptical in a small excersise room and there is little room left. I’m thinking a bench or mat, with some free weights and a bar might do?

I have a bench and barbell. If you can fit it, the next step is a squat rack. You could also get a squat tower instead and also use it as a bench, pull up bar, etc (this would be safest, but they're huge EDIT: they make smaller ones). Or just use light weights and powerlift them up. A pull up bar is also nice.

Why not just move the eliptical out of the workout room? It's not like it can damage anything (like dropping weights).

"We spend a great deal of time studying history, which, let's face it, is mostly the history of stupidity." -Stephen Hawking

As far as working out at home vs the gym...I worked out at home for 15 years. Power rack and free weights in the basement. Never had problems with motivation, and it’s much less time consuming than going out to the gym. I prefer it. My lovely wife, however, could never go down into the basement without it becoming mostly about doing laundry. So at some point we started going to the gym together, and the power rack became a laundry rack. Although recently, I’ve started using the power rack as a squat rack again, because the squat racks at our current gym are perpetually occupied with bros with bad form. Everything else still happens at the gym.

I only scrolled through the responses, so my apologies if this was already suggested. But TRX will give you an amazing workout if you just take a little time to learn how to use it. And it is very inexpensive compared to other equipment. Easy to modify to make it harder as you become stronger or easier as you age. Easy to work out multiple muscle groups at the same time while incorporating core stability muscles. Can be packed up and taken when you travel.

It was developed by Navy seals and I personally know several hockey and baseball coaches and refs for professional leagues that use it religiously since they travel so much and have to stay very fit while fitting in their workouts around their job responsibilities.

20 year personal trainer here with degree in Exercise Science. TRX is by far the absolute best. Minimal space required, highly effective, functional, as easy or hard as you'd like it to be. Nothing compares to the benefits of a TRX as home gym strength training equipment.

Couple thoughts:
You can use a gym "step" as a bench if space is tight, you can take it apart and stick it in a closet.
DailyBurn has a couple programs I like. Live to fail is weights, all it uses is 2 sets of dumbbells. Tbt is bodyweight training.
LesMills bodypump I also like. Uses just a bar and plates, and a bench

Small space here too. Yoga mat, doorway pull-up bar, a kettlebell, and a couple of resistance bands. Way more convenient and time-efficient, plus as an older women I am happy not to have to deal with the "you-don't-belong-here" stares and general gym yuckiness.

I do yoga for flexibility and a variant of the Reddit bodyweight fitness routine for strength training. You do have to get a bit creative with the minimalist home gym, but the site has useful tips. I do dips on the back of two chairs with towels for cushioning, and rows using an old sheet thrown over the pull-up bar.

I only scrolled through the responses, so my apologies if this was already suggested. But TRX will give you an amazing workout if you just take a little time to learn how to use it. And it is very inexpensive compared to other equipment. Easy to modify to make it harder as you become stronger or easier as you age. Easy to work out multiple muscle groups at the same time while incorporating core stability muscles. Can be packed up and taken when you travel.

It was developed by Navy seals and I personally know several hockey and baseball coaches and refs for professional leagues that use it religiously since they travel so much and have to stay very fit while fitting in their workouts around their job responsibilities.

20 year personal trainer here with degree in Exercise Science. TRX is by far the absolute best. Minimal space required, highly effective, functional, as easy or hard as you'd like it to be. Nothing compares to the benefits of a TRX as home gym strength training equipment.

Maven
Is there a good place I can go to find TRX exercises? My gym has TRX and I use it sparingly.

Given your space requirements and motivation, a combination of a pull-up bar and the TRX (or similar) seems like the best way to start. Pull-ups, push-ups, and squats are essentially the Boglehead three fund portfolio of exercises. You are getting large combinations of muscle groups with each exercise. One could purchase all kinds of barbells, machines, etc to work on individual muscle groups, but there is significant benefit in combining the muscle groups.

10 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 10 squats repeated. 30 minutes on the elliptical. Finish off with another two sets of the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats. This will be a difficult program. The TRX could be used to do additional workouts.

Quite impressive you engaged in hard core competition for 25 years. It does take a special form of determination and drive in that sport or any other. One of the best side effects is the type of person it turns you in to. It's no wonder you accomplished your goals.

Thanks! You are correct and over the years I talked about how it has impacted my professional growth and drive. It was very instrumental. That may be able to be said for a lot of athletic endeavors.

John C. Bogle: Two Fund Portfolio - Total Stock & Total Bond - “Simplicity is the master key to financial success."